EAST
- Bulls/Pacers (Brad) - Ah, a good old 1 vs. 8 matchup... this is one in the truest sense in that I haven't seen a single person give Indy a shot here... and I concur... Derrick Rose is the leading MVP candidate and he leads a much more talented/balanced Chicago roster... I think Darren Collison will do a decent job defensively on D-Rose, but his offense will likely suffer because of it, and I don't think Indy can score enough points to make this a real series against the swarming Chicago defense... If there was an x-factor for Indy, it'd have to be Roy Hibbert, but he's been awful lately, and I don't see him going off on Noah... Indy's going to steal one because Chicago hasn't been in this spot before, but too much Chicago.... Bulls over Pacers in 5 (Ryan: Bulls in 6)
- Heat/76ers (Ryan) - This is it..the time of year in which we will rate how well "The Decision" has been..as a sidebar of that whole thing..you know who has some interesting length and could put up a fight?...Philly..they have alot of wing defenders to throw around at Wade and Lebron...I don't think that will matter because of how well Miami defends..but I could see some really low scoring games here.An interesting matchup for me would be Elton Brand vs Chris Bosh.Brand has a bit of a resurgence this year putting up 15pts and 8.4rebs..its not bad.Another thing to look for is if Jrue Holiday can/will take advantage of whoever is playing point guard..I dont think he can but make things interesting for once eh?... Heat over 76ers in 5 (Brad: Heat in 6)
- Hawks/Magic (Brad) - The most competitive of the East series' in my opinion... Atlanta leads the season series 3-1 (for whatever that is worth), but memories of the complete meltdown in last year's playoffs remain... Dwight Howard has his worst stats of the year against Atlanta, and a lot of that has been attributed to the play of Jason Collins... Collins was brought in for one reason and one reason only, and it was to help in this series... I honestly think Dwight is my MVP of the league this year, and with the relative pu pu platter around him, it's impressive that they're the 4 seed, but he has to be better than he's been against ATL this year, or Orlando isn't winning... The Magic supporting cast is kind of a mess... Arenas is a shell, I've never been a Jameer Nelson guy, and while I like Ryan Anderson, the forward rotation of him, Turkoglu, etc. doesn't exactly scare anyone... On the Hawks side, it comes down to whether you trust Joe Johnson to show up... he's averaged just 16 ppg in the 2nd half of the year, and he'll need to be star-caliber for the Hawks to win this series... Gun to my head, I say the Hawks compete more than they have in the last 2 months, but can't get a road win... Orlando over Atlanta in 7 (Ryan: Magic in 7)
- Celtics/Knicks (Ryan) - If there was a real panic button for the Celtics...I think everyone would have pushed it by now.Everyone points to the Kendrick Perkins trade as the bottoming out of the emotional level of Boston..and while I disagree with that notion(something that isn't important right now) the playoffs are here and its time to move on...and what better way to get your mojo back than playing the New York Knicks?...Granted..NY can give them a real scare here..Carmelo is a one man wrecking crew and Amare is a legit beast...but they don't stop anyone...they can't stop anyone(Insert P.Diddy reference for NY..see what I did there!) but yeah..I fully expect it to be competitive..but I think Rondo has a field day again Billups and gets the offense going...Shaq won't even matter that much this series in my opinion... Celtics over Knicks in 6 (Brad: Celtics in 5)
WEST
- Spurs/Grizzlies (Brad) - I'm seeing a lot of Memphis love and I'm not sure I get it... granted, this team has been better than perceived throughout the year, but they're playing without Rudy Gay, and I'm not sure how anyone can pick them against San Antonio... the question mark for San Antonio is Ginobili's elbow, and while he may be limited early in the series, I'm actually confident they can win it without him (and for the record, I think he plays and plays well)... If there was one chink in the Spurs armor this year, it was actually defensively, but I'm not sure Memphis is the type of offense that will wear them down in a playoff series... Duncan gets a minute hike (and a production increase as a result), and San Antonio cruises... Spurs in 5 (Ryan: Spurs in 4)
- Blazers/Mavericks (Ryan) - Does anybody feel like Dallas has a chance here?..anyone?...anyone?..history hasn't been kind to them over the last few years..being a #1 seed and losing to an 8 seed..losing in the finals after up 2-0 and last year being a higher seed and getting bounced in the 1st rd to the Spurs.Is this the year where they kinda shake that off and make a bit of a run?...um..maybe not this year..Portland is the super trendy pick because of their length,defense and sudden star LaMarcus Aldridge. Adding Gerald Wallace didn't do anything to help that core of attributes and he should(along with others) make Dirk work for everything he gets. I'm always at a loss for Dallas because outside of Dirk and Terry..who is getting buckets for them?...Peja?...Marion?...Chandler?..Kidd?...someone else has to step up..anyone has to step up... Blazers over Mavs in 6 (Brad: Blazers in 6)
- Nuggets/Thunder (Brad) - I think it was pretty obvious I was taking this one... lol... at any rate, this may be the toughest series to call IMO... Denver has been a completely different team since the Melo trade, but I'm not sure their newfound strengths match up with OKC... the Thunder front-line is a different animal with Perkins, and they really match up well defensively with a Perkins/Ibaka frontline... add in that they have the best 2 players in the series in Durant and Westbrook, and that's a bad recipe for Denver... I just don't think they can match up late-game without a legit go-to-guy and OKC's athletes match up with them well on the perimeter... Thunder in 5 (Ryan: Zombies in 6)
- Lakers/Hornets (Ryan) - Here's the title defense..it starts here.LA had no "resting of the starters" to get where they are now..but thats okay.The Hornets aren't exactly anyone's pick to make a run here mainly because David West is out with a knee injury,which sucks.But you must play on and Chris Paul is the best chance to do anything again the power of LA.He has the easiest matchup(vs Fisher/Blake) and he has to be aggressive in order to make Landry,Ariza and Okafor get involved and play up to the competition at hand.I don't think that they can overtake LA but give the fatigue to get here and the lapses LA has had against worse comp..just look out.... Lakers in 5 (Brad: Lakers in 5)
Well there you have it... I need to get my "bigger" picks on record too, because even though I'll be previewing this round-by-round, everyone always wants the picks... here we go...
- East - Bulls over Magic in 5, Celtics over Heat in 6...... Celtics over Bulls in 6
- West - Spurs over Thunder in 7, Lakers over Blazers in 7..... Spurs over Lakers in 7
Spurs over Celtics in 7.... and no, I have absolutely no confidence in that pick... it's the NBA Playoffs... Sit back and enjoy it...
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